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Note: this is not manga, strictly speaking, since it was originally published in Korean.

The story starts with Aristia la Monique, consort to the emperor, being executed for treason. But it doesn't end there*. After a lengthy flashback which shows how things came to this pass for her, we find that we are in a time slip story where Aristia returns to being ten years old, with all the memories of her previous life--up until its gruesome end--intact.

* otherwise this would have been five pages long.

First of all, a word of warning: despite the beautiful shoujo art, and nothing being presented explicitly, The Abandoned Empress completely justifies its "Older Teen" rating. I had a hard time getting through the first half of the book because of how very unrelentingly grim it was. Aristia is never treated kindly, has no friends and no one to love her. She betrays because she has always been betrayed. There's dubcon, Aristia being forced to kowtow and lick the boots of the emperor, and two (CW: violence toward women) (view spoiler)[miscarriages caused by the woman bearing the child being beaten up (hide spoiler)].

One thing that's unusual about this story--this isn't much of a spoiler, but if you are especially sensitive to that, skip this paragraph--is that along with being a time slip story, this is also an isekai (or whatever that might be called in Korean). The title of the story has to do with Aristia's position as a future empress being usurped by a Korean girl who came from Earth.

This really got my attention in its second half. The tone doesn't take a 180, necessarily, but it's pretty darn close. After Aristia makes a decision regarding the goddess of this world's fate for her, she goes about changing her life. This includes having an affectionate relationship with her father, training in the sword, and gaining her first friend (who (view spoiler)[immediately decides he wants to marry her (hide spoiler)]. heh). Perhaps most importantly for her continued survival, she wants nothing to do with the emperor, who at this point in time is the heir to the throne since his father is still alive.

There's something that makes reincarnation and/or time-slip stories appealing to me. In part it's the ordinary thing of imagining how one's life might be if they made different, better decisions. Already Aristia's life is happier because of how she treats those around her, and although self-preservation is an obvious motive, things become better for them, too.

Presentation-wise this book is lovely. The cover is absolutely gorgeous, with silver floral highlights along the borders of the central illustration. The interior art is quite good too, for the most part, striking and atmospheric. Sometimes it seems to use computerized flair to cover up simple layouts and drawings, but that flair is quite good in itself, so I can't complain too much. The whole book is in full color, justifying its $20 price tag.

The translation is mucky at times. The formal language of the nobility has lines like "I was thinking about how much I'd like to spend cherishable time with my loving wife." Blargh... I'd help if they paid me. :D

I knew nothing about this before my partner got it in the mail from RightStuf. He's two for two this year. Good going, J! I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes, though the first half of this volume flavors that anticipation with not a little anxiety for our heroine.